US markets end marginally lower on Tuesday

12 Jun 2019 Evaluate

The US markets ended marginally lower on Tuesday as traders await further developments regarding the ongoing trade dispute between the US and China. The US-China trade conflict largely took a back seat to President Donald Trump's threatened tariffs on Mexico but may move back into the spotlight ahead of the G20 summit later this month. Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping are expected to meet at the summit, with the US president warning that he will impose new tariffs on Chinese goods if his counterpart does not attend. However, optimism about a potential interest rate cut by the Federal Reserve has contributed to the recent rebound on Wall Street, with the central bank due to make its latest monetary policy decision next week. The Fed is widely expected to leave interest rates unchanged next week, although the chances for a rate cut next month have spiked since Fed Chairman Jerome Powell pledged to act as appropriate to support the economic expansion.

On the economic front, producer prices in the US showed a modest increase in the month of May, according to a report released by the Labor Department. The Labor Department said its producer price index for final demand inched up by 0.2 percent in May after rising by 0.2 percent in April. The uptick in prices matched Street estimates. The slight increase in producer prices came as higher prices for services were partly offset by a sharp pullback in energy prices. The report said energy prices tumbled by 1.0 percent in May after surging up by 1.8 percent in April, with gasoline prices leading the way lower. Excluding food and energy prices, core producer prices rose by 0.2 percent in May after edging up by 0.1 percent in April. The increase in core prices also met expectations. Core prices edged higher as prices for services climbed by 0.3 percent in May following a 0.1 percent uptick in the previous month.

Dow Jones Industrial Average declined 14.17 points or 0.05 percent to 26048.51, Nasdaq fell 0.60 points or 0.01 percent to 7822.57 and S&P 500 was down by 1.01 points or 0.04 percent to 2885.72.

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